I saw about this on the news. I saw the pentecostal movement close up back in the seventies, very extreme and cultish, literal in their interpretation of the Bible, determined to indoctrinate the world. I've seen the indoctrination of children, too. And I've seen many of the children rebel, eventually. I think it's a bad sign, and I hope it runs its course. These things are cyclical, and it's been 30 years, so I guess it's time again. But, yes, it's very disturbing.

Holy sh$^%&! That is quite frightening and disturbing. Then again, my 17-year old niece, born to a Jewish father and Catholic mother, attends one of these churches. She is there of her own freewill. And she went to a camp that they run a couple of summers ago.

I was just thinking today that the Christian Right takes the stance of calling to inflict "democracy" upon xenophobic, repressive, fundamentalist theocracies while at the same time desiring to turn this country into that very thing...

Why Gannet? Why Search the Sea?

Gannets are enormous and sleek creamy-white seabirds, with black wingtips, yellow heads and necks, and startlingly outlined eyes. They nest on the rocky cliffs of the European and North American coasts of the North Atlantic and, once grown, spend their days sailing across the ocean. The acrobatics by which they make their living ~ steep climbs into the air and speedy plunges straight into the sea ~ are rivaled only by those of pelicans.
What better metaphor for a sweeping search of one's life choices and opportunities than a gannet extended above the waves, a regal and yet restless surveyor of the vast ocean surface? The gannet reminds us that life is an adventure in both beauty and profound unease, and that the sea itself is limitless in its textures and possibilities.